The Loss of a Hero
by United4180
Summary: After an ambush lead by Azula at the Western Air temple, Katara is visited by deceased loved ones from her past, and one that is from her future...
1. Introduction

The western air temple lit up with a dim glow hugging the ground on a cold autumn night. Everyone sat in silence as they pollished off the rest of their meal. The fire in front of them flickered slightly in the chilling breeze of the October air. No one had spoken a word in a few days now, not since the _accident_. Of all of the kids, Katara was most effected by their loss. Every time she thought about it, she burst into a loud sob, letting tears pour down her cheeks. The pain was unbearable. Every night, Katara layed awake, staring at the stars, wondering how it could have happened; wondering _why _it happened. She had tried to sleep, every night, but had no luck whatsoever. She was just too heartbroken. Every time she shut her eyes, visions danced around in her mind. Visions of the victim, the one she could have sacraficed herself to save. She knew that what happened was in the past, and that it could not be changed, no matter how much she cried, no matter what she did, what was done was done. 

"It's unbelieveable," Sokka said, a shakieness present in his voice. "Three days ago, he was perfectly happy. Not a care in the world. It seems like it was only seconds ago he was gliding around the temple, laughing as he flew into the wind. It's just so hard to..."

"Shut up, Sokka." Toph blurted, her eyes red with sadness. "We've gone through enough pain and suffering."

Katara propped herself against Appa, who clearly shared their greif. The warmness of his fur coat soothed her slightly. She felt here eyes get heavier and heavier until they closed all together. She dozed off, leaving conciousness for the night, and began to dream. To dream of the only one she ever really cared about...


	2. Chapter 1

_"Whoa!" Aang shouted as he narrowly dodged an incoming wall of fire. Azula was truly pissed. Aang had come very close to removing her from the throne. She wasn't going to give him the chance to succeed. It was time to end the avatar. With all of her rage piled up inside, she let out a monster blast of lightning, only to have it diverted by Zuko at the last second, much like Iroh had done during her first attempt to capture the two fire nation refugees. The bolt buzzed through the air at high speed and crashed into the side of the temple, sending a few pieces of mortar crashing to the ground. _

_Aang blew Azula back with a huge wave of air as she ran toward him. She fell to the ground with a _THUDUMPH_, nearly passing out. _

No, I cannot let him win!_ With only one last chance to finish the fight in her favor, Azula slowly rose to her feet, a menacing look on her face. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and with one last burst of strength, and angrier than ever, Azula let her feelings clash harder than she had ever let them, creating an incredibly powerful burst of lightning. She stretched her arm out in front of her, and let the blast go, right in the path of the avatar._

_"NO!" Katara screetched at seeing Aang crunble to the ground, undoubtedly dead. She ran over to the Airbender. He wasn't breathing. There was no pulse, and no healing she could do could ever bring him back now. She was too late. He was gone. _

_Katara turned, facing Azula head-on. It was time to end this before she killed anyone else. _

_Masters of waterbending have gone down in history with extraordinary capabilities. Some of them so powerful, even the avatar was unable to effectivly immitate them. The powers of waterbenders saved many lives in the past, and defeated enimies at their own game. But Katara could recall how some famous waterbenders had access to capabilities that tey were frightened of. Capabilities such as _bloodbending_. The last thing a waterbender would ever want to do was to give someone such a horrible death, but Azula deserved it. She was going to pay for killing Aang, and pay with her life. She was going to die in vain and in the worst way possible. _

_Katara could feel the shear power building up in her hands and fingertips. Azula began to lose control of different parts of her body as Katara gained more and more power. She could not escape the fate of bloodbending. Her throat began to tighten as her blood veins comprressed it. She began to choke, and the terror of her loss was overwhelming._

_"This is for me," Katara began maniacly as she continued to choke Azula to death. _

_"This is for Aang," Katara then stopped, and went off to finish Azula's death sentence._

_"And _this_? This...is for _you_!" CRUNCH!_

"Ah!" Katara screamed as she lurched forward, waking from her dream. Disoriented, and scared as hell, she backed into a crevace in a rock behind her. 

"Where am I?" She continued before watching a small bird fly past and land on a rock. Katara stood back up, and walked out into a clearing. Before her was a valley with a coruscating golden field of wheat. The slight breeze created dark gold waves that danced merrily across the thousands of acres of wide open land. At the edge of the meadow was a forest of maples. They must have stood at a hundred feet. The light blue sky above was laced every here and there with streaks of white running across the sky. Birds sang harmonious songs that reverberated throughout the valley below. Everything was peaceful. 

"Beatuiful, isn't it?" A familiar voice said out of nowhere. Katara gasped and whirled around, her heart thumping wildly. Her heart stopped, however, when she saw the face of someone from her past, whom she thought was dead. Yue.

"Where...what? You're..._alive_?" She studdered, breaking out in a sweat. 

"No." Yue sighed in return. 

Katara looked at her in shear terror. 

"Then I'm..._dead_?" She whispered, her mouth shriveling up due to dehydration. Yue shook her head, showing a very thin smile. 

"Where am I then?"

"The spirit world," Yue replied. "You're in great pain, I know. We're connected, Katara. We have the same thing in common. I share your pain, sypathetically and litterally."

"Why am I here?" Katara questioned, undoubtedly panicing. 

"I brought you here to ease the pain. The losses you've faced are unbearable for both of us, and those who were victims. I'm giving you a chance to see those who you have lost, one more time."

"So, I'm getting the chance to say what I didn't get the chance to say?"

Yue smiled in delight. "You catch on quickly." 

"Who can I see?"

"Whoever you want. It's your choice to make. If you want to see Jet, so be it. If you want to tell your mother of what you've done this past year, you can. It's up to you." Yue began fading as the sun started to set in the distance. Her figure was blurring and beginning to dissapear with ever passing second. "It's up to you..." 

Yue's appearence was carried off into the wind and obscured, before turning in to a ball of light, flying up into the sky. 


End file.
